Decided to rent to own a home and the land was not included, once I found out that no bank would loan on a mobile home to move it and set up on property then I decided to give back to my landlord. We had a signed written document with no notarizing, if she decides to come after me to finish paying for the mobile home even though we have moved out, will she be able to do that?
Notarizing a document has no importance in its legality, it only certifies that the person signing is who the say they are.
She can sue you, but without seeing the agreement, its not possible to say what her chances for success are.
I agree with Kenneth, but wanted to add that, depending on your income, you might qualify for free legal advice at Pisgah Legal Services. They can be contacted at (800)489-6144 and their website is http://www.pisgahlegal.org/
The Landlord has a duty to mitigate her damages, even though you may have breached the contract. The Landlord can't sit idly by and collect all the remaining agreed amount. For example, she may be required to actively market the home for sale or lease, or both. So your liability, if any, may be limited in this regard.
While not all the facts here are clear to me, I think the short answer to your question is that your contract was indeed a valid, legally-enforceable agreement (with or without notarization). There was a memorandum expressing a meeting of the minds (i.e., mutual assent), and there was consideration in the form of rental payments made by you. The next question would be what the remedies are in the event that you breached the contract's terms. Look to your contract to see what it says about remedies in the event of a breach. If it silent on these terms, the least the other party could obtain is the outstanding amount you owe, although the landlord has a legal duty to mitigate damages by finding a substitute tenant as soon as is reasonably possible. Beyond that, an attorney would actually have to review your contract in order to more precisely advise you. Hope this helps.
